Falter
by EatSleepReadHP
Summary: Dear Cho, my dearly beloved first child. If you are reading this right now, I shall assume that I am dead. For I know that soon my time will come. I admit to bearing witness to an event that I know was not meant to be witnessed.
1. Glass

Cho sat in the dark corner, silent tears rocking her body, as she held tight to her four year old

sister Mina. She listened to drunken yells from her step father drifting down from upstairs. A loud

thud echoed through the house, and then there was silence. Silence so full it enclosed her whole

body and soul. She could feel it engulfing her, strangling her. Cho looked towards the door fearfully

as she heard heavy steps stumbling down the stairs. The door to the library burst open and Kuan-yin

Chang looked wildly around. Cho moved in front of Mina, praying he wouldn't notice them in the

corner, however his eyes swept the room thoroughly until he focused on the cowering girls huddled

together in the dark. "Whas wrong?" he said in a soft dangerous voice, his words slightly slurred as

he walked towards them. "Are you scared" he whispered running a finger down Cho's cheek. She

winced and closed her eyes. _Please go away, please go away!_ She pleaded silently. "Because you

should be," he said, his face was so close to hers, she could feel his warm breath on her cheek,

smell the alcohol. "You will help me" _No!_ She though, _He can't control me, I won't let him!_ In a

moment of boldness she yelled, "I won't help you!", and then realized what she had done. As

quickly as her bravery had come it left, leaving her without anything. In a rage Kuan-yin grabbed a

wine glass, half full with liquid and chucked it at her. She gasped as it narrowly missed her and Mina

and shattered on the wall behind them. Without thinking she grabbed Mina in a rough hug and

dropped to the floor as glass shards flew at them, pricking her body and embedding themselves

deeply into her skin. The alcohol stung her open cuts. Mina, though, unharmed began wailing. Kuan-

yin shouted almost hysterically over Mina's crying, "You will help! Or suffer the consequences."

And with a pop he was gone.

Cho crawled over to where she had left her wand wincing. She pointed it at her arms muttering

_unsectify_ and the glass flew out of her skin, and the cuts healed over leaving only faint scars. "Shush

Mina, its okay, he's gone." She said, forcing her voice to a calm and soothing tone. "Come here, did

you get hurt?" "Nuh uh," Mina mumbled shaking her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "Why does

step-daddy hurt us?" she asked. "I … I … don't know," lied Cho. _Yes you do, she thought to _

_herself, it's because you refuse to help him, your doing this, hurting your family, its your fault, he _

_wouldn't do it if you helped him. _She quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head. "Cho where is

Kioshi? Is step-daddy hurting him too?" Cho felt her stomach clench when she thought about her 7

year old brother. She hadn't seen him since last week. She had no clue where he was.

_ Cho's eyes opened, and she blinked before realizing what had woken her. Three pairs of eyes _

_stared at her. She jumped up reaching for her wand, but it wasn't in her pocket like usual. She _

_heard a laugh and she saw in the dim light one of the men twirling her wand in his fingers. _

_"What do you want?" She asked hoping she didn't sound as scared as she was. Her whole body _

_was shaking, and her mind was racing, what was going on? She gasped as she noticed what they _

_were wearing, long black robes, hooded heads, and masked faces with only slits for eyes. It _

_couldn't be, they couldn't be, he – he – vol – he couldn't be back, it was just a few people playing_

_a prank. "Cho, we have a favor to ask of you." One said smirking as Cho took a step back, that _

_voice sounded terribly familiar. She had heard it once; she had heard it a hundred times. Her step _

_father spoke again, his voice low and rough "We need a little help with a little friend of ours; you _

_might know him, Harry Potter." Her heart leapt at the name of the boy whom she had been _

_thinking about ever since two years ago at the beginning of her second year at Hogwarts when _

_she had first seen him. "You see we need him for a little, let's say rebirth party, shall we? And we _

_need for him to have a special … um … friend to guide him and give him directions on how to get _

_there." Stepfather, death eaters, Harry Potter, and suddenly it clicked. They were trying to - , they _

_were going to -. Oh no. That explained why recently her stepfather had been leaving at odd _

_hours, acting more distant around the family, he had gone back, even though he said he _

_wouldn't, he had lied when he said he was changed. "I will never help you, hurt me as much as _

_you want, I still won't help you!" she exclaimed, and then flinched expecting the abuse she knew _

_they were capable of. But none came, only another cold laugh. "I have a feeling you will change _

_your mind." He said, and with that Kuan-yin roughly grabbed something and pulled it into her _

_view. "Kioshi!" She gazed in fear at her little brother. "We will give you a week to think it over, _

_though we know what your final decision will be, sleep tight." She leapt forward, but only fell _

_through the air. They had gone, and her brother was gone with them. What would she do? _

_Hurting her family was a totally different thing than just hurting herself. She just lay on the floor _

_sobbing. _

"Cho?" a small voice broke through her thoughts. Cho looked down at her little sister, at least she

was safe for now. "Come one lets get you to bed." Cho said her voice shaking. "Can I sleep in your

bed tonight?" Mina asked. "I'm scared" "Okay," Cho said as Mina slipped her small hand into

Cho's. "It's okay, we'll be okay, we'll get through this." Cho whispered, more to herself than to

Mina.

Cho lay in bed unable to sleep. She listened to the soft breathing of Mina, lying next to her deep in

dream land. Her thoughts turned to Harry. His messy black hair, deep green eyes, and he's lopsided

smile that made her weak. Already at such a young age he was a hero to many. How could she help

to hurt him, when he meant so much to her, to the world. But as she felt her sister stir next to her,

she knew that her job was to protect to her family first. Pushing all thoughts of Harry out of her

head, she stumbled out of bed; her only consideration now was to keep her step-dad and his friends

away from her siblings. She fumbled around in the dark for a moment until her hands found a quill

and parchment sitting on top of her desk. Hastily before she could change her mind she scribbled

_okay_ on the paper and clicked her tongue softly waiting for her owl Hayden to fly over. With shaky

hands she tied the note to Hayden's leg and let her go. What have I done was her last thought before

she sunk into the chair and fell into a fitful sleep.


	2. Miss Sienna

Cho pressed the doorbell and listened to the ring echo through the house. Mina

hid her face into Cho's neck, and Kioshi peeked out from behind her leg. Cho looked at

the tear stained note in her hand and read it for what had to be the millionth time. She

could almost recite it from heart.

_Dear Cho,_

_My dearly beloved first child. If you are reading this right now, I shall assume _

_that I am dead. For I know that soon my time will come. I admit to bearing witness to an _

_event that I know was not meant to be witnessed. I am sure the participants will not allow _

_me to live. I am writing to you to beg you not to grieve for me. Death is merely a lovely _

_breath of fresh air after the years of suffocation that life forced upon me. My only _

_reserves in accepting my fate is the knowledge that I will leave you, my innocent, _

_unprotected children alone. I ask you, the eldest, to look after your siblings. Should you _

_ever be in danger, or need help I beg you to visit an old friend and mentor of mine, Ms. _

_Sienna. I know she would not want you to hesitate in coming to her, her address is _

_written at the bottom of this paper. Know that wherever I am right now, I am looking _

_down on you. I beg you to live life to the fullest and take the opportunities that I never _

_had. I will forever miss you._

_Love, _

_ Your caring mother,_

_ Akiko Chang_

_7862 Acanthus Lane_

Soon it would be time for school to start; she would be starting her fourth year at

Hogwarts, and she had no idea what to do with her siblings. She had contemplated

staying at home to look after them, but decided that she would be able to do nothing to

protect them if she didn't continue her training as a witch, and she would find it hard to

find a job in a wizarding community if she dropped out after only three years of

education. Cho thought back to the night she had agreed to help her step father, and felt

sick. He had promised that her siblings would not be hurt as long as she did what they

asked, and true to his word Kioshi had been brought home the next morning. But she still

didn't want to risk them staying with him alone. She thought that if there was ever a time

she was in danger and needed help, the time was now. She just prayed that this Ms.

Sienna would be able to help her. Asking someone to look after a seven year old and a

three year old for almost a year was a big deal.

Cho looked back up at the address next to the door, 7862. Her heart started

beating faster as she heard footsteps coming towards the door. The lock clicked, and the

door opened. "Akiko?" The young lady in front of her asked. Suddenly she found herself

embraced in a warm hug. "Oh, no…I um," stuttered Cho, "I'm Akiko's daughter, Cho."

"Oh my," the lady said, pulling away. "Yes of course you are, now I see. You just look so

much like she always did." The lady chattered on, her blond hair bouncing, and her blue

eyes sparkling. "And then you must be Kioshi, and you Mina. Oh do come right in. It is

so lovely to have visitors. Is your mother here with you?" she paused looking behind Cho

as if expecting her mother to jump out from behind the bushes or something. Cho shook

her head slowly. "My mother passed away a few months ago." She said. "Oh. I'm sorry."

The lady, who Cho now assumed was Miss. Sienna, whispered. And once again Cho

found herself in a hug. When Miss. Sienna let go, Cho looked at her face and saw tears

rolling down her cheeks. My mom must have been close to this lady, she thought, and she

wondered why they had never met her before. "Don't cry." Mina's little voice said, and

to Cho's amazement Mina slipped down from Cho's arms, walked over to the Miss.

Sienna and put her little arms around Miss. Sienna's leg. Mina had always been very shy

around strangers. Miss. Sienna smiled, wiped her eyes, and picked up Mina. "I'm sorry,

you must think I'm terribly rude, I haven't even introduced myself, my name is Sienna

Hailey Taya Aldain, but please call me Sienna, or if you insist like your mom did, Miss.

Sienna. Would you like a cup of tea?" Cho only had a chance to nod before she and her

siblings were ushered into the sitting room by the friendly Miss. Sienna, and supplied

with tea, milk, and scones. "Now dear," Miss. Sienna asked, "was there anything

specifically that you came here for?" "Well yes," Cho started. This was the part Cho had

been dreading. She was just about to ask for a big commitment from a lady that she

barely even knew, though she seemed nice enough. And what if the lady said no, what

would she do, and where could she take her siblings, she didn't know. "Since my mothers

death, I have been the one taking care of my siblings. And…and my step father…um…"

she paused. Miss. Sienna smiled. "Cho, aren't you starting school, in a few days? I guess

you'll probably be in your fourth year am I right? Your siblings are just darling, I'm sure

they would be lonesome without you during the school year, I don't suppose you would

consider letting them stay with me? I know that that's a big thing to ask, but I was

extremely close to your mom." Sienna said. Cho felt as though a weight had been taken

off her shoulders. She laughed. "Oh would you? That would be wonderful, I was worried

about who would look after them!" For the first time in weeks Cho truly smiled.


End file.
